Six in the City

Denver Restaurant Week divides into February and August, raises prices

By Jason BlevinsThe Denver Post

Posted:
09/24/2013 02:28:18 PM MDT

Updated:
09/25/2013 11:02:44 AM MDT

Denver's wildly popular Restaurant Week is coming to summer. The two-week celebration of Denver dining has thrived for nine years at the apex of winter, spiking restaurant traffic in the typically slow end of February with discounted eats.

Visit Denver, which created Denver Restaurant Week, announced Tuesday it was splitting the two weeks, with one in February and another in August. And for the first time in nine years, the price climbs from $52.80 for two to $30 per person.

"Nine years without a price increase was too long to go," said Justin Bresler, vice president of marketing for the convention and visitors bureau.

The shift allows restaurants to showcase summer menus and tap the popular farm-to-fork movement in the warmer months, when fresh ingredients are abundant. And it deflects the second-week burnout that some restaurants were reporting. Bresler said his team heard "overwhelming feedback" from restaurants that staff energy and dining traffic waned in the latter half of the second week of the 14-day event.

"By splitting it into two separate weeks, we will be able to retain that initial energy," he said.

Restaurants have been offering ideas to Visit Denver on how to make Denver Restaurant Week better for years, and the change in schedule will be welcome, said Pete Meersman, chief of the Colorado Restaurant Association. Meersman said the price increase is "good and necessary."

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"Members have been talking about a higher price point just because they don't want to have the price determine what gets served and what doesn't. They want to provide a quality product because many times the people coming in for Restaurant Week are new customers, and they want to do a good job in hopes those customers come back," Meersman said. "$52.80 was kind of cute, not in a bad way. It was a neat thing, and I think it had a purpose initially, but I'm not sure it does now."

The ninth annual Denver Restaurant Week in February and early March this year broke records, with a highest-ever 355 participating restaurants serving almost 437,000 meals. But some high-profile restaurants — such as Mizuna and the Squeaky Bean — opted out of participating, with owners saying the increased traffic and decreased prices made it difficult to maintain high quality.